NEW TANK DESPERATE HELP PLEASE!

briansreeftank19660426

briansreeftank19660426

Member
[hr]
I AM NEW TO SALT WATER AND WOUL DLIKE TO POST WHAT I HAVE SET UP AT HOME AND WHAT I PLAN TO PUT IN TANK AND GET OPINIONS. I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP. WE ALL WERE ROOKIES AT ONE TIME.. MY NITRATES WONT GO DOWN
SET UP 6 WEEKS OLD.TANK WAS CYCLED WITH CLOWN AND DAMSEL.
29 GALLON GLASS TANK
50/50 BULB
2 INCHES OF FINE SAND
3 PIECES OF LIVE ROCK
150WATT TRONIC HEATER
FLUVAL 304 WITH BIOIBALLS ,NOODLES,CHEMIPURE CARBON, COARSE PAD AND FINE PAD ON TOP
SEACLONE PROTEIN SKIMMER
CUSTOM SEALIFE 9WATT UV STERLIZER WITH TINY POWER HEAD DOES TANK 2X PER HOUR
2 15 GALLON AQUA CLEAR 201 POWER HEAD FILTERS IN EACH CORNER
ONE SMALL INCH BLUE HIPO
ONE TINY DAMSEL
ONE 2 INCH SEBAE CLOWNFISH
ONE HERMIT CRAB
ONE SMALL CORAL BAND SHRIMP
ONE VERY SMALL HORSESHOE CRAB
ONE SNAIL
ONE PURPLE SEBAE ANENOME SMALL 3 INCH BASE
20% WATER CHANGE EVERY 2 WEEKS
RED SEA TEST KIT
ADDING ONCE PER WEEK VITACHEM,TRACE ELEMENTS,PH BUFFER,MICROINVERT FOOD LIQUID IODINE,
FEEDING EVERY OTHER DAY FLAKES
MY NITRATES WONT COME DOWN BELOW 50PM
SOME SMALL TRACES OF NITRITES.AND VERY TINY AMONIA.
IS THIS SET UP OK FOR A FISH AND MIXED INVERT AQUARIUM.? AND LIVE ROCK? AND EACH TIME I ADD A FISH WILL MY NITRITES SPIKE AS WELL AS MY NITRATES? THEN COEM BACK DOWN IF I HAVE THE BIOLOGICAL CAPACITY TO CARRY THE FISH OR INVERT?
THANK YOU
 
briansreeftank19660426

briansreeftank19660426

Member
sorry ive lowered my caps .. any advice would be welcome..thank you.. is a 29 gallon tank too small for a emperor angel? or anytyhingnice? beside clowns and damsels?
 
karlas

karlas

Member
well for one your tank is only 6 weeks old and you have that much livestock in your tank, thats way to much in that short of time your bioload hasn't had a chance to catch up to itself. a good rule of thumb is to add a fish or 2 wait a couple of weeks then add 1 or 2 more and that is after the cycle. every time you add someting living to your tank you increase the bioload and it needs the extra time to produce the bacteria to handle it.
another thing its not really a good idea to cycle with fish there are other methods. using a piece of table shrimp, or your ls, and lr couldve been used to cycle. cycling with fish puts a lot of stress on them your lucky that the fish survived because nitrites and amm are toxic to fish. also since you are showing ammonia and nitrites (even the slightes amount) are you sure you tank was completely cycled? with sand and rock you should not be showing any of these.
the hippo tang will outgrow that size tank pretty quickly. they should be put in at least a 75 gall or larger aquarium they get up to 12". also they should be put in a more established aquarium at least 6 months or older because they need stable water quality. they are very prone to ick and changes in water parameters can promote this for the fish. i wold trade him for some other smaller fish.
and for the anemone they should only be added to a tank at least a year old or better. and they should be kept by people with more experience. most anemones dont live over 6 mths in the aquarium.
also you mentioned lr 3 pieces, do you know how many lbs? for good lr filtration you should have 1 - 1 1/2 lbs/gall. also your lighting you saig 50/50. what exactly is it? pc,vho,atinic,mh
the biggest thing with this hobby is patience. without them your tank will never work. i wouldnt add anything until your ammonia and nitrites go to 0. because your only going to make it worse if you do. even if you trade the hippo for a smaller fish your about at your stocking limits. over stocking will raise your nitrates also. another good rule to follow is 1"/5 gallons of water. HTH
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Everyone's advise in both forums is very good advise. You have over taxed a tank that, at best, should have only a few small fish in it.
One thing I will add, "FLUVAL 304 WITH BIOIBALLS ,NOODLES,CHEMIPURE CARBON, COARSE PAD AND FINE PAD ON TOP" is a big mistake. This type of filtration is basically what is known in the hobby as a "nitrate factory". If I were you, I'd take back all your living animals, see if you can get LFS to give you some of your cash back for the livestock and for the fluval [or just keep it for cleaning if you end up down the road having to use copper meds, etc.]. With the cash you get back plus some more, add about 3 more inches of LS and around 20lbs of LR. Use these as your filtration. Let the tank cycle and feed it wo any fish in it. Then, in about 2 mos, start adding 1 organism at a time [think small!]
Also, read and learn as much as you can. Feel secure in what you are doing before you jump into doing it.
 
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